Kudos to William Marshak, Editor of the Tri-City Voice for informing us of the chicanery of the Fremont council members who, at the last moment, unveiled plans for Mayor Wasserman and Councilmember Natarajan to enjoy a free trip to sister city Jaipur, India. Of course, the taxpayers are footing the bill. Furthermore, after leaving the sister city, they will spend time in New Delhi and Agra. Of course, when you have a free trip, you might as well see it all.

We have one council member, Steve Cho, who is considerate of his constituents and asked what trade objectives were involved. This evidently irritated Mayor Wasserman who brusquely pushed the question aside.

This incident is just one more reason why the A's ballpark and ballpark village should be put on the ballot for the voters to decide, as it seems common sense is lacking in many council members' decisions.

We constantly hear the A's will benefit Fremont financially, put us on the map, "it's a win-win" situation, etc., but what about the quality of life this will produce? According to Lew Wolff, all problems will be mitigated including gridlock traffic and transportation, but how?

Can you imagine the current traffic on Auto Mall Parkway and freeway 880 exacerbated by a baseball stadium, shopping center, hotel, theater and 2,900 condos? Former Mayor Gus Morrison questions the feasibility of this and I feel he has more information than we do.

Then there is the issue of the exorbitant waterslide which will be open only three months a year for only five hours per day.

No, I don't feel this council is qualified to rationally decide whether or not we welcome the A's to Fremont. This should definitely be decided by the voters. If you agree, call the council line at 494-4895, extension 5811 and let them know that a project of this magnitude should be approved or denied by the voters of Fremont.